Ajax recorded a convincing win over FC Groningen on Sunday. Míchel Sánchez's side were ruthlessly effective, particularly in the second half, and scored five goals in a match for the third time this Eredivisie season. It finished 2-5 at the Euroborg. Julian Brandt and Jorthy Mokio scored twice each, while Aaron Bouwman was also on target.
The visitors started brightly and soon created a huge chance. Leonardo found himself alone in front of Etienne Vaessen, but the Brazilian took too long and shot straight at the goalkeeper.
Moments later, Leonardo beat Vaessen to the ball. The striker got there first and Vaessen brought him down heavily. Captain Davy Klaassen stepped up for the penalty, but Vaessen made amends for his mistake with a fine save.
Míchel's side largely controlled matters at the Euroborg until Klaassen brought down Brynjólfur Willumsson with a risky sliding tackle in his own penalty area. Dennis Higler let play continue, but was then called over to the VAR monitor. After a lengthy review, he stuck with his original decision.
Shortly afterwards, Ajax opened the scoring. Owen Wijndal dispossessed Jorg Schreuders in Groningen's half and passed to Brandt. The German shifted the ball onto his left foot and his shot flew into the net via Marco Rente: 0-1. Aaron Bouwman then poked home from a corner to make it 0-2, leaving the Amsterdam side looking as though they had the match all but wrapped up.
Willumsson pulled one back for Groningen just after half-time following Leonardo's careless loss of possession in his own half. Klaassen thought he had soon restored the two-goal lead, but his goal did not count because Oscar Gloukh had been offside in the build-up.
After a strong run, Wijndal laid the ball off for Brandt, who scored his second to make it 1-3. Vaessen did not cover himself in glory. Groningen's resistance crumbled after the third, and Ajax went on to secure a comfortable win.
Mokio tapped in from a corner to make it 1-4, then added the 1-5 with a measured shot. That allowed Míchel to give Yves Bissouma his debut. Thom van Bergen made it 2-5 after a hesitant intervention by Marc ter Stegen. In stoppage time, Van Bergen had the chance to score Groningen's third from the penalty spot, but Ter Stegen denied him. Groningen suffered a painful defeat, while Ajax's emphatic victory ended the negativity of recent weeks.